The quad-core, ARM-based Orange Pi PC 2 has broadly similar specs to the Raspberry Pi Model 3 B but has one fewer USB 2.0 port, lacks Wi-Fi and is powered via a 5V/2A barrel jack, rather than a micro-USB.

On the other hand the Chinese-made Allwinner H5 quad-core, ARM Cortex A53-based system-on-a-chip used in the Orange Pi PC 2 is relatively new and was designed for use in 4K TV boxes. The Orange Pi PC 2's memory is also of the faster DDR3 type, compared to the Pi 3's LPDDR2.

The company that makes the Orange Pi PC 2 has said the board will be available with images to run Android, Ubuntu, Debian, and the official Raspberry Pi OS Raspbian. However, this isn't the same version of Raspbian that can be downloaded from the Raspberry Pi Foundation's website, but a Raspbian image with the Allwinner H5 Linux kernel and bootloader.